Topical negative pressure and military wounds--a review of the evidence

Background: Topical negative pressure (TNP) has been used as a method of wound management for some years. Use of TNP is accepted best practice at Role 4. There are advocates of using TNP after initial wound surgery at Role 3 or 2E. The evidence to support forward use of TNP is not comprehensive, especially when considering this narrow cohort of patients and injury pattern. It is the aim of this review to evaluate the current evidence for the use of TNP in all wounds, and to find what evidence there is that may be applicable to military wounds.

Methods: A literature search of Cinahl, Embase, Medline, ProQuest and the Cochrane Library was conducted; references were cross-referenced. All Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) were included in all languages over a comprehensive time period. An interim review was conducted by the Wound Management Working Group of the Academic Department of Military Surgery and Trauma. A further literature review was conducted to find all papers relating to the use of TNP on military wounds.

Results: 17 reports were reviewed relating to 14 studies including 662 patients. Of these 131 were reported to have had traumatic injuries. Significant results were reported with respect to time to wound healing, patient comfort and reduction in wound volumes. Bacterial load was not affected, in the 3 trials which commented on this, but in 1 there was a significant reduction in wound infections in the TNP group. Several of the trials were small, methodology was not consistent therefore no meta-analysis was possible. 2 papers were found describing case series of military patients being treated with TNP.

Conclusions: There is very little published evidence in the form of RCTs to support the use of TNP in the acute traumatic military setting. This review supports the requirement for further investigation to evaluate whether this method of wound management has a place forward of Role 4.